Don't risk having your listing managed by someone else because you don’t own it; be sure that you have full control of your listing to update it as you deem necessary.
As discussed in a previous post, Google My Business is an essential tool for large and small businesses. It is possible to come across your law firm listing and find out that it’s being managed by someone else who is not part of your business. A situation like this is far too risky because a person may add incorrect information about your business, leading to a loss of client opportunities.
This post will go over the steps of how you can claim your Google My Business listing if it already exists and is claimed, but you are not its owner.
1. Claim your existing listing.
2. How to claim and take ownership of the listing if you cannot get the current owner to grant ownership to you.
3. Verify your listing.
Claimed Listing
On the GMB profile, click on the “Own this business?” link toward the bottom of the profile:
If the listing is claimed, you will be directed to a web page to request access to the listing.
Upon clicking “Request Access,” you will enter information about yourself. This information will be shared with the listing’s current manager.
There are two questions that you must answer.
- What level of access would you like? This option allows you to choose your access level. If you want to own the listing, select “Ownership.” If you are going to help manage the listing for the owner, select “Management.”
- What’s your relationship to the business? This option lets you define your role in the business. Are you the owner, an employee, or an agency managing or helping to manage the Google My Business listing?
Once your relationship is defined, you will fill in the remaining fields with your name and phone number so that the listing’s current manager can confirm who you are and either approve or deny your request.
If your request is approved, you will be notified by email and will be able to manage the business profile on Google My Business.
If you are given access by the current owner, you now have access to the profile and are done with the claiming process.
But you might not be given access by the current owner. The current owner might not answer your request in a timely fashion, or they might reject your request outright. In that case, you will need to go through additional steps to gain access.
What to do if you do not receive a response from the current listing manager?
If you don’t receive a response after 7 days, you may have the option to claim the profile yourself.
If the current owner is unresponsive, Google will release the profile and will show it as unclaimed. You will then get a chance to verify the listing by going through the verification process as you would in claiming an unclaimed listing. To see this process, read the blog post about “Setting Up Google My Business – Existing Unclaimed Listing”
How to claim your listing if you cannot get others to grant you access
If your request is denied by the current owner of the listing, you will be notified by email, and you might have the opportunity to appeal the denied ownership request.
By using this link, you can contact Google Support to continue the process if your request was denied.
To create a support ticket, you will need to provide some information. In the first field, you should let Google know that someone else has access to your listing, and they are not giving you the ability to manage it.
Then, select “Owner conflict” as the issue, and then click on “Next step” to proceed.
Select the “Email” option, and a form will display.
Fill it in with your personal and business information as fully and accurately as possible. Once you send the information to Google, a support ticket will be created, and they will follow up with the process by contacting you. Google might ask you for further proof about your business, such as photos.
Conclusion
Claiming and accessing an already claimed listing could be an easy or hard task that may take a few minutes or several days. It all depends on the listing’s current owner.
At Justia, we can help you set up your Google My Business profile and optimize it to get the most out of it to promote your business. Contact us today if you are interested in getting advice on your Google My Business listing.
